Bravely fighting Dar es Salaam’s fiery flames

The traffic jam along Sam Nujoma road heading towards Mwenge area at 6.30 in the evening is tight as people are heading home after a long day of work.

Both public buses and private cars are struggling to caper the long queue. Parallel to this congestion, a loud prolonged sound as if of a warning is constantly nudging from a distant. It didn’t take long to realise that it was a fire truck indicating it needs to rush for rescue operation somewhere.  

Despite the siren from the fire truck, it didn’t alter the realities that just like the public and private vehicles it will not be able to get its way out of the queue. The traffic officer along the crossroad directing the movement seemed to ignore the siren. The fire truck couldn’t linger any longer and struggled its way to the service road. 

“They are not going to make it on time, and even if they do manage, then I am sure they will not have enough water to put the fire down,” a sceptical voice rose from a man seated at the back of the bus stuck in the traffic. 

Debates ascended in the bus. The anonymous man when asked as to why he was cynical, he said that in the recent past, he witnessed his friend’s family house perish due to fire and inefficiency of the Fire and Rescue force (FRF). 

“I don’t trust the fire and rescue force of this country, nothing has changed in two years,” he added. 

This is just one of many negative perceptions the community has against the Tanzanian FRF across the country, particularly in the city of Dar es Salaam. 

In mid-August last year, a family of nine died due to a fire accident at Buguruni Malapa. That day left many disappointed that the fire and rescue force arrived too late to rescue the children, men and women trapped in a house that caught fire. This incident left the residents of Dar es Salaam with a negative undertone towards the fire and rescue force. This also put a big question on whether the citizens are really safe during fire emergencies.

‘Do more with less’, seems to have been the unofficial motto of the fire services in Tanzania in recent years. Firefighters in this country have continued to be resourceful group of individuals, but they face various dilemmas, such as community’s negative perception and road congestions which dub them to be inefficient, non-resourceful and incompetent. 

The Assistant Inspector in charge of the Fire and Rescue department at the Ilala branch spoke to Sound Living, to refute these claims. 

“The negative perception towards the Fire and Rescue force is because there are a number of obstacles that have made the work of firefighters difficult. We have been taking measures to run effective prevention and preparedness programs to respond to emergencies and have minimal impact on community,” cited Idd Chanyika, the Assistant Inspector. 

Fire and Rescue force was established in 2007, Inspector Chanyika added that the force as a government agency is entrusted with regulating the industry and providing professional services in the area of disaster prevention and taming. Inspector Chanyika who is also responsible for public education added that the Tanzania Fire and Rescue purpose is to improve community safety, minimise the impact of hazards and emergency incidents in Tanzania community. However, Inspector Chanyika added that one serious dilemma the fire department face regularly is acquiring adequate firefighters and officers to do their job safely, educate each and every citizen on preventive measures and protect the community. “When the public calls for our help, we run to their aid, but who will run to our aid when we need help?”

The fire department is part of the Dar es Salaam Multi-Agency Emergency Response Team, which is a combination of all response units such as ambulances, police, Red Cross including fire. “If we have an emergency, we communicate with all the responsible units such as traffic officers so that they can open up the roads for us. Sometimes, the traffic police might stand on a certain road junction without a radio call hence it gets difficult to communicate which is the reason a fire truck is jammed in traffic,” he explained. If it happens the traffic officer fails to clear roads despite being alert, he or she faces a penalty.

Outdated and limited availability of trucks adds to the inefficiency of the fire and rescue force. 

A fully equipped fire truck with the capacity of carrying 6,000litres of water is said to cost around Sh700 million. While a fire truck of the capacity 10,000litres of water is estimated to cost Sh1.2 billion. 

 “Our department budget as of last fiscal year was Sh1.5 billion, and how many regions does our country have? If Dar es Salaam city only required 10 trucks, the budget will only allow to buy 2 trucks, that means it will take another five years just to get the infrastructure right,” Inspector Chanyika spoke. 

He added that Dar es Salaam is not the only city which needs the fire and rescue facilities because there a lot of properties which are at stake in case there is fire emergency in other parts of the country too. He is pledging to the community to put themselves in the shoes of the firefighters and to stop putting blame on the fire and rescue team. 

Research indicates that a fire rescuer can wear outfit which can cost up to Sh14 million or more when he goes for rescuing, clearly reflecting how much investment this department needs. It includes safety boots, helmets, fire tunic or fire suit, chemical suit, gloves, a breathing apparatus and a smoke detector According to Inspector Chanyika, none of these have been bought by the government.

Despite having to work under tough environment, Vitus Bishanga says that he always tries his best to save lives and properties. “Dealing with fire is science as it is, that is why I don’t agree when I hear people say we are incompetent. The whole process of managing fire emergencies involves a number of things. We don’t expect a fire rescue team to go to a tall building in town to pump water to a 13th floor. The water pressure will definitely be low. We expect these buildings to abide by country’s regulations to have fixed installations of fire extinguishers.  In case of an emergency, it would be easier for us to get into the building and put off the fire by using such equipment,” says fire constable Bishanga.

According to experts, the availability of fire hydrant makes the rescue process a lot easier and faster. These connection points by which firefighters can tap into a water supply are supposed to be available every 100metres. “If it happens that a house has caught fire between 100metres from the fire hydrant, it is more efficient to pump water from the point to our truck system,” explained Inspector Chanyika. However, poor planning of the city, particularly residential areas with high population density and no availability of fire hydrants pose a lot of risk.